Burglars strike PARI on Christmas Eve, Times-News reports UPDATE

Transylvania sheriff’s officers have made an arrest in a Christmas Eve break-in at Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, and investigators recovered most of the items stolen including rare meteorites.

Investigators are still searching for another man believed to have participated in the break-in at the science education facility near Rosman – Hendersonville resident Robin Morris Baldwin Jr.

From the Hendersonville Times-News

by Emily Weaver

Transylvania County deputies are searching for thieves who broke into a hands-on research facility and swiped expensive electronics and irreplaceable not-of-this-Earth objects on Christmas Eve.

The secluded, hi-tech Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, once used in Cold War espionage and as a tracking station for NASA, was burglarized around 3 a.m. Dec. 24. Deputies say individuals entered the facility and took items such as computer monitors, televisions and projectors.

The thieves also swiped more than 100 priceless meteorites, most of them one-of-a-kind, from three collections that were on display, according to David Clavier, vice president of PARI’s administration.